Mazda may be keeping mum about — or simply not developing — any hybrid cars for release in the near future, but it is taking other measures to be ‘green.’ The latest reports see the Japanese automaker researching bioplastic which it hopes to use in bumpers and dashboards of its vehicles by 2013.
The study, called the Bioplastic Project, is being performed in conjunction with Hiroshima University, and would involve waste plant material such as wood chippings. The process would be similar to the one used in manufacturing second-generation biofuel, wherein the waste plant is turned into ethanol, and then converted into ethylene and polypropylene, according to Autocar.
The process will not affect food resources, and it is carbon neutral, Mazda claims. The automaker used a type of bioplastic in the interior of its RX-8 based Premacy RE Hybrid in the past, and wants to move on to mass produce it.
